Hockey: Big chance for Black Sticks women in World League finals

Stacey Michelsen of the Black Sticks. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand are determined to go one better than last time when they host the women's World League hockey final in Auckland, starting tomorrow.

The world No 5 Black Sticks finished runnersup to world No 3 and hosts Argentina in the final of this tournament in 2015.

The personnel has changed significantly since then, with plenty of young players pushing through to the national team, but co-captain Stacey Michelsen is excited by the potential, but also the occasion.

"It's exciting to see what the young players have been doing at training. I'm sure they will step up," Michelsen, among the world's elite players, said.

"We've been really fortunate to be training in Auckland together for a long time, we've had a good buildup and we're very excited for it to start."

Another reason for wanting to perform strongly, apart from a rare hosting experience on home soil of a major international tournament, is this is the final edition of the World League, which hasn't proved popular.

The Netherlands won in 2013, Argentina two years later and this will be the finale, with the International Hockey Federation having plans to start a major new competition, the Pro League in early 2019 which will involve nine countries playing each other home and away over a six-month period.

So finishing the World League on a high, and make best use of the event as a lead-in to next year's World Cup in London, will be priorities for a New Zealand side who will enjoy the rare sight of solid home support on a world stage.

Eight of the world's top nine teams are in Auckland, the odd one out world No 4 Australia, who failed to qualify.

New Zealand kick off their campaign at North Harbour Hockey tomorrow night against the Dutch, with other Pool A games against the United States and Korea to follow.

The Dutch, runnersup at last year's Rio Olympics, European champions, world No 1 and a perennial force in the game, have lost a clutch of star players post-Rio, but captain Marloes Keetels is confident.

"We won the European championships in Amsterdam and that gave us a lot of confidence as a new team," Keetels said.

"I think we're building on that now and the young players are growing very fast. Our prospects are good."

The team who beat the Dutch in the Olympic gold medal match, England, have jumped to world No 2 and are aiming to show that Rio triumph was no flash in the pan result.

"There's about eight players from Rio (in Auckland) and we have a fantastic blend," England captain Alex Danson said.

"We are very respectful of our past but we're a forward-facing team and trying to evolve and create a new way of playing."

Outstanding striker Danson, with 105 goals in her 286 caps and a 16-year veteran of the international game, acknowledged England need to build on the Rio gold; the same could be said for the Germans, who beat New Zealand in the bronze medal match at the Olympics.

It was the second straight Olympics New Zealand had lost in a bronze medal match and it hurt.

"That was an amazing feeling," German skipper Janne Muller-Wieland said of the bronze playoff.

Her squad is also in transition, and that includes new coaching staff, but believes Germany are capable of a solid showing.

"It's about how quickly we find our game. Our last (event) was at the Europeans in August but we've done our homework. We have very young players, we'll learn from game to game and it'll be interesting to see how quickly we can adjust."

The US and Korea will play the other opening-day match tomorrow.

The gold and bronze matches will be on November 26.

World League final pools:
Pool A: Netherlands (world No 1), New Zealand (5), United States (7), Korea (9)
Pool B: England (2), Argentina (3), Germany (6), China (8).